REFUGIO — The county tax office is issuing “The Texas Classic,” the new general-issue license plate from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV)

“We’ve run out of the previous multi-colored, general-issued license plates and are now distributing the popular black and white plates,” said Ida Turner, tax assessor-collector. “Most Refugio residents seem to like the Texas Classic because of its clean, simple design.”

The TxDMV requested tax assessor-collectors exhaust their inventory of the old plate design before distributing the new one to save taxpayer money and avoid waste.

The Texas classic includes two new, high-visibility security threads that join the existing security features embedded in the plate sheeting.

Texas is the first state in the country to provide dual security threads, making it easier for the law enforcement to spot legitimate plates.

The bigger plate letters and numbers are full one-inch wide and just over two and half inches tall.

The new license plate pattern include three letters followed by four numbers. By keeping the letters and numbers separate in the alphanumeric pattern, the seven-character license plate number is easier to remember.

This is convenient for plate owners, and also provides better recall for law enforcement and citizen witnesses.

License plates are replaced every seven years due to a loss in reflectivity. The Texas Classic also ushers in a new era for truck owners.

In September 2011, truck and passenger-vehicle owners began paying the same fixed rate for registration, which eliminated the need for two different types of general-issue plates.

To add the work “truck” on license plates the TxDMV had to reduce the size of the state name, which sometimes limited whether a truck owner could use a license plate frame. State law does not allow “Texas” to be completely covered by a plate frame.

You can access the specialty plate designs and learn more about the Texas Classic on the TxDMV website www.TxDMV.gov